Drunk burglar stole snake from pet shop
A man broke into a pet shop 'for a laugh' and stole a snake - but the joke was on him after he ended up ringing the store owner several days later and returning it.
Danny Tomlinson was handed a bill of almost £700 after he admitted burgling Creature Comforts in Rugeley.
He had twice visited the shop before the break-in, asking questions about the reptile.
The 21-year-old claimed he had drank half a bottle of vodka and was 'off his head' on Mcat, a slang name for the stimulant drug mephadrone at the time.
Tomlinson broke into the shop in Market Street on the night of March 24 by smashing a panel in the entrance doorway before seizing the tank containing the corn snake and fleeing.
Owner Susan Birch was at the shop exactly a week later when she took a phone call from someone calling himself Dan, saying he had the missing snake.
Mr John Peel, prosecuting, said Tomlinson visited the shop with the snake at her request 30 minutes later, along with scenes of crimes officers. They found blood on the inside of the door frame and CCTV footage implicating him as the lone intruder.
When officers initially arrested Tomlinson, he denied any involvement in the burglary, saying he was with a friend.
"But he then gave three different sets of information about the friend," said Mr Peel.
When Tomlinson was interviewed a second time, on March 10, he admitted partial involvement in the crime, putting himself at the scene but insisting someone else took the snake.
After being shown CCTV film, he said he could not remember what had happened because he had snorted two lines of the Mcat amphetamine and drank a can of lager and the vodka.
Cannock magistrates heard he had 18 other convictions on his record but none of this nature.
A report on Tomlinson by the probation service said that despite telling police he took the snake for a laugh, he admitted wanting the reptile and deliberately targeting the shop.
The court heard Ms Birch was 'traumatised' by the break-in.
Defending him Paul Tonks said: "Clearly this young man is playing snakes and ladders with his lifestyle.
"He wants to get things back on an even keel and keep away from the demon drink."
Tomlinson, of Harney Court, Rugeley, was also given 240 hours unpaid work and a 12-month community order with supervision.
